


Wish I could turn back time (to the good old days)

by dimircharmer



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Violence, Retirement, Sibling Bonding, before VM went tearing off to the next place, complicated but loving dynamics, offscreen de Rolo backstory, technically mid episode 85 but no explicit spoilers, the conversation I have to imagine they had
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 14:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9662231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimircharmer/pseuds/dimircharmer
Summary: Percy tries to be a better big brother to Cassandra. Cassandra is skeptical.-Percy and Cass go on a walk in the woods, and make a mostly earnest effort to actually talk to one another.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This does sort of take place in the middle of episode 85, but doesn't have any explicit spoilers. But the mood makes more sense if you know what happens in that episode.

“Come on,” Percy said to her, before anything like ‘good morning,’ or ‘how are you,’ or ‘oh Cassandra, I’m so sorry, let me take over running the castle,’ “We’re going to go kill something.”

A hunting coat lands on her bed. Cassandra pulls her covers down to glare at her brother.

“What, exactly,” she said, and the venom in her voice was ruined somewhat by the early morning croak, “Are we going to be killing?”

“Haven’t decided yet.” Percy said. “I thought we’d go up to the mountains and see what tried to take a swing at us.”

Cassandra stared at him.

“Come on now, it’s not _that_ dangerous,” Percy said, “The giants haven’t moved back in, and all the dragons are dead. I don’t think we’re going to see anything more dangerous than a wolf or two, don’t look at me like that."

“I’m looking at you like that because I’m waiting for you to get out so I can get dressed,” Cassandra said, “And if there were ever wolves in the woods, they have almost certainly been eaten in the past five years.”

“Ah,” Percival said. He fiddled, for a moment, with one of the ridiculously plentiful buckles on his jacket- one of the ones fastening his equally ridiculous guns to his back.

“At least turn around,” Cassandra said, resigning herself to whatever plan her brother had concocted. “or I’m not getting any more out of bed than I am already.”

Percy promptly spun to face the door which was, at least, closed. Cassandra rubbed at her face, and braced herself to put her bare feet on the cold stone floor.

“I’ve taken care of the business for the day,” Percy said, still obediently staring away from her as Cassandra pulled a dress over her head, “I’ve let Vex have a go at the finances, and she has a head for gold like no one else I’ve ever met, she’ll have that all ironed out by the end of the morning, and I’ve made sure that everyone knows you’ll be unavailable for the day.”

“Everyone but me, you mean,” Cassandra said, buttoning herself up to the neck, “You did, in fact, forget to inform _me_ that I would be unavailable for the day.”

“I thought it would be a nice surprise.”

“Well it certainly was that.” Cassandra rubbed her eyes again, finished buttoning her sleeves down to the wrist, and slung the hunting coat over one shoulder. “Lead on, Percival.”

Percy turned around, and blinked in surprise, “I can’t believe that worked.”

“I can go back to bed,” Cassandra threatened.

“No I- Yes. Ok, yes, let’s go, I have such _plans_ ,” Percy opened the door for her, polite as they had always been raised, gesturing for her to go through, “It’s going to be a good day, I swear.”

“Well, if you swear,” Cassandra said dryly, and stepped through the door.

They walked out of the castle remarkably unmolested by anyone asking for a moment of Cassandra’s time, which must be how Percival felt all the time. He threaded his hand into her elbow, at one point, but blessedly did not attempt to drag her by it, content to guide her through the courtyard, down a winding road up to one of the forest paths. At which point he stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the woods in front of them.

“I hope you’re not expecting me to guide you,” Cassandra said, “I haven’t gotten out much, the last few years.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Percy said, “We’re a pair of clever people, and everything that lives in the forest is stupider than us.”

He pulled his massive gun off his back, and cradled it in his arms.

“I do hope you’ll be doing the killing,” Cassandra said, “If there’s killing at all to be done. I’m not getting between anything with teeth and you.”

“That’s fair,” Percy agreed, “You do have a weapon, though, on you right?”

“Of course,” Cassandra said.

Percy smiled, almost proud. “I knew we were related. Shall we?”

Cassandra gestured to the woods, “Lead on.”

Percy obediently walked into the woods; Cassandra followed him two steps behind. The woods around them were quieter than they had any right to be, and very quickly closed around them, shielding the castle and the city from their view. In the woods, sun dappled and silent, Percy looked- at home, suddenly. More than he had in the castle, stuffy and awkward like he was play acting at being a nobleman, reminding himself to use proper courtly manners and not open wine bottles with his teeth. 

He looked, weapon in his hands, scouting ahead, in his element. He was almost happy. Of course, this didn’t actually help them find anything. There was a very exciting moment where Percy thought he found a broken branch, which turned out, in fact, to be merely a broken branch and not tracks of any animal. The followed a noise that Percy insisted was something moving, to discover a small brook running over the path, effectively erasing it. Percy made a surprised noise in his throat.

“Do you have any idea at all what you’re looking for?” Cassandra asked him.

“Not at all,” Percy admitted. “Other people have always made this look so easy.”

“Percival,” Cassandra said, “Why are we out here.”

Percy hesitated, and fiddled with something in the stock of his gun. “It seemed like the thing to do,” he said eventually, “to bring you out here.”

Cassandra couldn’t help the laugh that burst from her throat, and she sat down heavily on a log by the stream.

“Percy,” she said, “You _hated_ when Julius dragged you out hunting.”

“I’m not sure that’s true,” Percy said, blush creeping up his neck above his collar

“It _absolutely_ is,” Cassandra said, “You always sulked for _days_ before and after.”

“No,” Percy said, “I have very fond memories of going hunting with Julius,”

“You once tried to convince me to help you break your foot to get out of it.”

Percy paused a moment. “I had completely forgotten about that. You didn’t go through with it, did you? I would have hoped I would remember breaking a foot.”

“Oh no, Julius found us, do you remember? In your workshop, I had a hammer raised, and he made the most disappointed face at us.”

Percy laughed, “He was very good at that, if I recall.”

“He took his job as protective older brother very seriously,” Cassandra said, and stretched her legs out, still warm the hike, “Especially towards you. The first little brother.”

“And the littlest sister,” Percy added gently. He sat gingerly on a log across from her, and began pulling at his neck-cloth. “Promised to protect us all with his life. He did put his money where his mouth was, in that department, which I still haven’t forgiven him for.”

“Oh?” Cassandra asked.

“Dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night, swore he’d protect me and get me out, and then took a bolt in the throat right in front of me.”

Percy pulled off his neck-cloth to soak it in the river. “So much for 'I'll always be there for you'.”

Cassandra shrugged. “He did shove me in a closet and say he’d come back for me, so he did keep your promise to you, at least. He got you out.”

“Oh,” Percy said, “I didn’t- I didn’t realize.” He paused, wringing out the excess water, and pressed his neck-cloth against the sides of his neck. His shirt, falling open without it, hung down to expose the massive knotted Y shaped scar, tracing the underside of his collarbones meeting in the middle of his sternum before disappearing behind cotton.

“We didn’t really have time to discuss it, when it happened.” Cassandra said, “And there’s always been something more important to talk about afterwards.”

“Still,” Percy said, and dipped his cloth in the water again. He held it out to her, this time. Cassandra stared at it, and then slowly reached to the buttons under her chin, to start loosening her collar.

Percy made a brief wounded noise, deep in his throat as the patchwork of Sylas’s scars became visible around her neck.

“Don’t,” Cassandra said, and pressed the cloth to the back of her neck, “Don’t Percy. I don’t want to hear it.”

Percy looked like someone had punched him in the stomach, or torn his guts out again, but at least cleared his throat and looked back down at the creek rather than at Cassandra’s neck.

“I still catch myself missing them.” Cassandra said, eventually, shifting the cloth to the side of her neck, where the scar tissue was thickest, “In the middle of thinking about our mother sitting in on our lessons, or about the twins tearing around the castle, I get this pang for when Delilah used to do my hair, and then I have to try and keep myself from vomiting.”

She laughed at herself a little bit, and pulled the cloth away.

Percy flicked a pebble into the water. “There’s nothing I can really say to that.”

“No,” Cassandra agreed, “Thank you for letting me kill her.”

“Any time,” Percy said, “Although please not anytime soon? I would like a little bit of warning, before you get taken hostage by a vampire and a necromancer again if you would be so kind. I don’t think my heart could take a surprise like that.”

“I’ll see if I can set up a warning system,” Cassandra said.

“That’s all I ask,” Percy said.

Cassandra gave him his neck-cloth back, and he tucked it into his jacket pocket, instead of retying it around his neck. His hair was in disarray, his jacket- though recently brushed and pressed- bore unmistakable bloodstains and battle patches. And he looked happy, more or less. 

“You’ve changed, you know.” Cassandra said. 

“Well I should hope so,” Percy said, “I was a little bit of a shit, when I was younger.”

“Oh, that hasn’t changed,” Cassandra assured him, which succeed in getting him to laugh, “You do look far more comfortable out of your workshop, though.”

“I guess there hasn’t been much time to get into one, recently.” Percy said, “Between all the dragons. I hope to get back into one, now that that’s all sorted out.”

“Only you, brother,” she said, “would see that as one of the primary benefits to killing a conclave of dragons.”

“As you say,” Percy said, “I am still a bit of a shit.”

Cassandra laughed, and Percy stood up and stretched like an old man- scar tissue and injuries and white hair making him elderly before his time. He reached his hand back down, to help Cassandra up.

“I do actually want to be here more often, now that the dragons are sorted,” Percy said, pulling her to her feet, “I can’t promise to always be here, or to be useful when I am here, but I want to be here.”

“Percy,” Cassandra said, mock scandalized, “are you thinking about retiring?”

“There’s been some talk of it, yes.” Percy said, entirely serious. “We’ve just- well. I don’t want to leave them. We have a few lose ends to tie up, and we have to go to Marquette and to a tribe of druids in the middle of an ocean, but we're slowing down. I love them all tremendously, and I hope to stay with them mostly, but I'm not sure any of us want to do this forever, particularly now. Of course I want to come back to you. You're my sister.”

“Oh.” Said Cassandra.

Percy slung an obnoxious arm over her shoulders, in the way that older and taller siblings always felt entitled to, and began walking back to the castle. Cassandra butted her head against him, mostly for show.

“Percival?”

“Yes Cassie?”

“Next time the mood strikes you to do some sibling bonding, please just find a few bottles of wine and spend the evening with me.”

“Oh thank god,” Percy said, “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“I know,” Cassandra said, around the grin sneaking onto her face, “But I appreciate the effort.”


End file.
